Modern Appraiser Roadshow – a round-up

Now that we’ve finished up the three-day sessions of our Modern Appraiser Roadshow for this year, it’s time to take a look back at the events as a whole. (We're not done, though! Click here to attend a one- or two-day session.) We’ve heard back from many, many attendees about how they’re using the tools and training to become better, faster, more professional appraisers. While certain appraisers focus on one or two main features or highlight workflow changes they’ve made, there are a handful of features and topics that resonated pretty much wherever we went.

Here are, in no particular order, the topics that consistently ranked highest in customer surveys (I've even linked to videos where appropriate):

• Complex sketches on a mobile device – One of the most pervasive myths about using TOTAL for Mobile is that “It’s only good for simple properties. You can’t use it for more complex properties.” Because this section was a hands-on part of the class (we brought dozens of mobile devices for those that didn’t bring one), it was easy to bust that myth wide open. Every attendee walked out of the room having drawn a 6,000+ Sq foot, multi-level property with angles, curves, interior walls, cut-out areas, open-to-below, etc. No matter where we took this course, the Mobile Sketching section was consistently ranked the highest by the attendees.
• Photos on mobile – Sure, everyone knows that mobile devices have cameras. What surprised many appraisers was to what extent TOTAL for Mobile’s photos process could cut down on their photos workflow as a whole. Most appraisers currently use a process that involves a point-and-shoot camera, card and card reader, importing the photos, tagging the photos, and finally dragging them into the photo pages. Some appraisers spend 10-15 minutes per report with this process. TOTAL for Mobile, however, bypasses that entire process. Instead, you take the photos right on the form pages – they’re auto-optimized, and will end up in your photos database with no extra work.
• DISTO – Many appraisers have bought DISTOs or other laser measuring tools, taken them into the field to use on inspection without knowing much about them, and now that DISTO is the most expensive paperweight they own. Our desktop sketching class has a 40-minute segment where we demonstrate how to overcome real-world obstacles to laser measuring tools – including certain features, like SmartHorizontal mode, that most appraisers simply never knew existed.
• Drag-and-drop comps – It never failed. Every time we‘d literally drag a comparable around onscreen to resequence it, many in attendance would gasp in disbelief.
• QuickLists and formfilling – Multi-field and partial-field QuickLists have been around in TOTAL and WinTOTAL for decades, but many appraisers don’t currently utilize them. Want to save the neighborhood section as a single common response? No problem. Need to save a particular sentence or paragraph from your addendum for later use? Super-easy.

Overall, the Roadshows were fun. It’s tough work putting together and teaching a series of three-day events, but we met thousands of appraisers, partnered with local and state organizations, visited places we’d never been (Puerto Rico!) and made some friends. We’ve still got our courses, and will be doing many of them across the country still, so check the Workshops page to see if we’re coming to an area near you.